Allegheny Power calls for new power connection in Kemptown

Monday, March 27, 2006

Allegheny Power submitted a request to build a series of power lines from West Virginia to New Jersey. One stop on the route may be in Kemptown, where Allegheny Power would connect to existing high voltage lines.

PJM Interconnection will evaluate the proposed route and demand on electricity. The company works to plan power transmission across the mid-Atlantic states, according to its Web site, www.pjm.com.

Allegheny Power expects to receive initial approval for the route in June.

The company expects another verdict in April on a separate, shorter power line in Urbana.

The Maryland Public Service Commission is reviewing the shorter power line, the 2.1-mile long ‘‘Urbana loop.” Hearings concluded in February after more than a year of gathering evidence in favor and opposition of the power lines through rural Urbana.

Hearing Examiner Dennis Sober, of the Public Service Commission, expects to make a decision on the route in late April.

Last Friday, he said there is a vast amount of testimony, and he will digest everything before making a ruling on the case.

More information on the loop is available by searching for case No. 9018 at www.psc.state.md.us.

For more information on the PJM plan, please see the March 30 print edition of The Gazette.